Dear All,
I’m so sorry to have missed class. PLEASE MAKE A CONSULATATION DATE WITH ME NOW so we can be back in touch. I had to have an unexpected medical procedure.
I had been working on updating the syllabus, getting you to post all presentations and images on OSS, and to begin with you an in-depth conversation about what possibly is NEW DOCUMENTARY. Especially with your proposed class projects what is “new” and what is a classical approach? Can self-portraits be documentary??
I’m just now finishing posting on OSS. I had hoped to present these posts in class.
PLEASE READ new updated SYLLABUS carefully as I’ve clarified assignments, OSS postings, readings, and grade percentages. I had expected you all to have had at least 5 photographs completed by the last class. I was eager to see Rifidi, Donn and Stephanies’ presentations. Now I would like to meet with Donn and RIfdi asap. I have seen Stephanie. And again with everyone else to confirm what you are doing. Only 3 people have submitted Project schedules through March 14 to me. 25% of your grade has to do with your creative process, participation, and studentship. This has to do with how much you can carry the ball-keep up, keep in touch with me as well, etc.. Its your job, if you have to miss class, to get in touch with me immediately. I’m tracking your process and if you don’t do this, I have no idea ….
Please confirm consultation time with me as soon as you possibly can. I would like these to take place Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday afternoon. You can come together if you wish. I will be away March 1-12 installing my 2nd Museum installation.
PLEASE MAKE A DATE NOW.
DOCUMENTARY PROJECT #1 will be critiqued for Midterm grade after the break on March 14 and 21. Everyone should be ready by the 14th. Please decide amongst your selves a critique order, ie who will go first and who will need a week longer. I propose that Donn, Fitri, and Stephanie go on the 21st based on how much they still need to do. We will use the Lighting Studio walls. Come early or the night before and get your work up. You will want to write an Artist’s Statement and include your research so far.
Please remember this project can segue into Documentary Project 2 or you can turn to a different point in time or place: personal, local, global.
If anyone has images they would like us to see for next Wednesday’s class, then come early or the night before to get your work up. ThIs is not mandatory and we will not spend a lot of time discussing. BUT It cheers everyone up to see work in progress and to address questions.
I’ve posted 3 other things. Two are in Readings and are lists of Documentary Photographers.
The 2nd are of books on reserve in the ADM library. I forgot to list Martha Rosler, in our reading list. She is central in questioning ideas about representation.
Martha Rosler : positions in the life world
Rosler, Martha. Zegher, M. Catherine de. Ikon Gallery.
Published ©1998.
ADM Library TR650.R821
She will be helpful for Rifdi and Dyan’s work with identity and possibly Rebecca.I am searching for a way for you to define New Documentary versus Documentary.There will be an assignment about this after March 14/21 critique. Please start thinking about this now by perusing the library stacks and the web from my lists and others.
Please observe in the syllabus that there are 2 additional exhibitions to see and to write responses on OSS. The first exhibit we will see together in the ADM gallery next Wed February 28th.This exhibit is devoted to Clara’s subject on social media and what is true.
The 2nd, a series at the Esplanade which is supposed to be really good, is for you to do during the BREAK(see below).*
I hope to see you all in the next few days. Contact me at meridel@ntu.edu.sg.
Warmest best,
Meridel
*The Life of Things (Jan – Apr 2018)
Kevin Fee (Singapore), Lim Sokchanlina (Cambodia), Phan Thao-Nguyen (Vietnam), Sarker Protick (Bangladesh), Sim Chi Yin (Singapore), and UuDam Tran Nguyen (Vietnam)
Objects and places are repositories of history and conduits of memory, associated with experiences both personal and collective. While they are material things with physical attributes, they also have symbolic qualities that represent abstract ideas, signal emotion, and in the case of animistic belief systems, possess energies that people powerfully relate to.
In three exhibitions around Esplanade, artists from Singapore and the region present new and recent photographs, paintings, sculpture, video and installations. Broad in historical and geographical scope, these artworks uncover ways that colonial legacies, geopolitical tensions, and urban development leave material traces of their existence on things and places. In these exhibitions, objects and landscapes become discursive sites for the expression and interpretation of competing historical narratives and the complexities of contemporary experience.
Subliminal City
19 JAN – 8 APR 2018
UuDam Tran Nguyen (Vietnam) and Lim Sokchanlina (Cambodia)
Esplanade Concourse and Tunnel
Relics
Phan Thao-Nguyen (Vietnam), Sarker Protick (Bangladesh) and Sim Chi Yin (Singapore)
Jendela (Visual Arts Space)
Museum of Modern Sympathy
Kevin Fee (Singapore)
Community Wall, Level 3
.